Entire Korean Family Dead in New Zealand

In what is disturbing and increasingly strange news Young Jin Baek, wife of Sung Eun Cho, 43, and Father to Kelly Yeon Sue Baek, 13, and Holly Yeon Jae Baek, 17 was found dead in his car in Christchurch after travelling to New Zealand to arrange the funerals of the three women after they themselves died last week.

The circumstances of the mother's and daughters' deaths are not described in The New Zealand Herald report, but it is understood that the three woman had been in New Zealand for almost 6 years, the girls on student visas and their mother on a work permit. The Herald alludes to some financial difficulties and issues with their residency status, their bodies having been found by an Immigration official who had visited the home of the three after Mrs Cho had failed to keep an appointment with Immigration.

The Herald alludes to the father, who was found alone in his car, having committed suicide out of grief.

Auckland Korean Society vice-president Audrey Chung said the deaths should act as a wake-up call to the plight of many Korean mothers in New Zealand.

"Many Korean mothers choose to remain here because they want to accompany their children, but their husbands have to work in South Korea because there are no jobs for them here so they are forced to live apart."

Interestingly out of the 17000 odd guardianship visas issued to foreign nationals by New Zealand Immigration last year (i.e. parents accompanying elementary, middle and high school students to New Zealand) some 14000 were issued to South Koreans.

This is truly a sad case and I hope it won't happen again. It is the first instance I can think of where an entire Korean family has died while in New Zealand and I commend the Korean Society's moves to establish some sort of support network, least we forget the societal and educational pressures in Korea that led to this family to spend so much money and time apart in the first place.